Pilot program for matriculation in 11 years to begin this school year

The program aims to prepare students for future careers in the hi-tech Israeli economy.

By SARAH LEVI
Updated: AUGUST 19, 2017 10:52
Zvi Peleg (Courtesy) (photo credit: ZVI PELEG)
Zvi Peleg (Courtesy)
(photo credit: ZVI PELEG)
High-school students will now have the option to graduate one year earlier, beginning in the upcoming school year.
The Israel Sci-Tech educational network is piloting a program that will allow students to complete their studies in 11 years instead of 12.
If the average 219-day school year were not long enough for Israeli students, the Sci-Tech network proposes to tack on an extra month of studies starting in the eighth grade to expedite the current matriculation time by “cumulatively tackling the curriculum in a more efficient time frame.”
The extra year gained from this program will either be used to enroll in a higher-education institution immediately following graduation or to volunteer for an extra year of community service before enlisting in the army.
Sci-Tech emphasized that “Travel, work, or time off in order to think about their future is not an option here.”
Sci-Tech is Israel’s largest independent educational network and serves 100,000 students and 207 learning institutions.
Its focus is on science and technology education, and the long-term goal of the accelerated matriculation endeavor is to provide Israeli students with a fast-track option to enter the hi-tech sector sooner, in hopes of remaining a global leader in the field.
Sci-Tech’s curriculum stresses practical implementation of innovation, science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.
The goals of this program are “preparing students for future careers in the hi-tech Israeli economy, and conducting significant social outreach to disparate and often disadvantaged and underserved social groups, such as ultra-Orthodox and Beduin communities.”
In anticipation of the pilot program, Sci-Tech Schools director-general Zvi Peleg said: “If we can ignite our students’ drive for improvement and social responsibility, and help them down a path where they can contribute to society at large, then everyone will benefit, including us. We see the provision of these tools as nothing less than our obligation.”
The program will be implemented for the upcoming school year in cooperation with the Education Ministry and will begin in two northern Sci-Tech Schools: the Rogozin Sci-Tech School in Migdal Ha’emek and the Sci-Tech High School in Ma’alot.